Many Catholics are caught up in talk about “generational healing,” also called “intergenerational healing” or “healing of the family tree.” They believe that they are affected spiritually by the misdeeds of their ancestors, and even speak of “ancestral curses.” The practice of offering special prayers and Masses for generational healing has become commonplace among Catholics of a charismatic bent as well as among more traditionally-minded Catholics who follow “celebrity exorcist” priests who have become influencers.
The basic idea is that the sins of one’s ancestors, going back four generations, are creating spiritual and physical problems for their descendants today. Believers in generational healing say that, if one of your ancestors committed serious sins or was involved in the occult, or joined the Freemasons, you may experience breathing and stomach disorders, fertility issues, early death, death by accident and the death of children as well as being more likely to abuse alcohol or sin against the sixth commandment. If you identify any of this sort of thing among your ancestors, you would then seek out deliverance prayer, exorcisms and/or participate in a special Mass offered for “healing the family tree.” These spiritual practices are supposed to break the “generational bonds” or “generational curses.”
In 2024, the bishops of Spain published a document on generational healing and concluded that the practice has no basis in Catholic teaching. It does not align with the Catholic understanding of personal sin and punishment, Baptism and the Eucharist.
While the Spanish bishops’ document got a lot of media attention, it was not the first time Church authorities addressed the issue. In 2015, the Polish Bishops’ Conference published a study on Generational Sin and Intergenerational Healing and concluded that the idea of “generational sin” and the practice of “intergenerational healing” have no foundation in the Bible, that it cannot be justified by appeals to Scripture or the official teaching of the Church, and that it denies the truth of the mercy of God and his forgiving love as well as the efficacy of the sacramental grace received through Baptism and penance.
Eighteen years ago, the French Bishops’ Conference published a study on Healing the Family Tree through the Eucharist; it reached similar conclusions to those of the Spanish bishops. In 2007, the bishop of Suwon, South Korea, issued a pastoral letter warning against the practice of “healing the family tree” after concerns were raised by other Korean bishops.
The International Association of Exorcists considered generational healing during a meeting held in 2018. Father Rogelio Alcántara, chairman of the doctrinal commission of the Archdiocese of Mexico, gave a report concluding that the practice had no theological basis and that attempts to justify it by appeals to Catholic tradition failed, noting that the ideas behind it closely resemble the non-Christian concept of “karma.” He also pointed out that the idea does not appear at all until the second half of the 20th century.
Of course, Catholics can and should pray for deceased Christians, including their ancestors. The Catholic practice of offering Masses for the dead inspired the Anglican psychiatrist, R. Kenneth McCall, to develop his ideas, published in the 1982 book Healing the Family Tree. McCall’s work inspired Catholic priests John Hampsch and Robert DeGrandis, S.S.J., to write on the subject; DeGrandis’ work has been especially influential among Catholic charismatics.
McCall seems not to have understood Catholic doctrine about praying for the dead. We can help those in purgatory because all the baptized are members of the communion of saints, who share in spiritual goods. The key word here is goods. We are joined to deceased Christians in a sharing of holy things, not curses or spiritual evils. It does not include, as the Spanish bishops put it, a notion of “the transmission of the consequences of the sins of the dead members of one’s own family tree to the living. On the contrary, it does include the possibility of a mutual benefit of intercession between the living and the dead, unconnected to the idea of intergenerational sin.”
We should also remember that purgatory is a place where those whose serious sins were forgiven before their death are being purified before entrance into heaven. Our doctrine of purgatory does not include a concept of “posthumous forgiveness” of extremely grave sins.
We become members of the communion of saints through Baptism. Baptism forgives both original sin and all personal sins one has committed as well as all punishment due to sin. In one who has been born again through baptism, there remains no obstacle to entering the kingdom of God. This means it is impossible to believe in a transmission of sin from one generation to another without contradicting Catholic teaching on Baptism.
What about offering Masses for intergenerational healing? The Church’s liturgical books include Masses offered for the faithful departed, but in them we do not ask for healing of intergenerational relationships. The Spanish bishops, therefore, point out that introducing such an intention into the celebration of the Mass essentially changes and seriously distorts the meaning of the Mass.
Despite the clear and wise teaching of bishops in Spain, Poland, France and Korea, belief in generational curses is still popular among Catholics. Popular priests, deacons and lay Catholics continue to popularize these ideas through videos, books and special Masses. Maybe it is time for bishops in English-speaking countries to look into the matter.
In the meantime, Catholics should educate themselves about the Church’s teaching on original sin, personal sin, the communion of saints, the effects of baptism and the purpose of the Mass. They should avoid novel and unsound teaching that is not firmly grounded in Catholic tradition. Above all, anyone who is baptized should put all their trust in Christ’s victory over evil. Christ has conquered! Standard translations of the Bible are produced by teams of scholars who check each other’s work and arrive at a consensus about difficult or obscure passages. They do not claim to have received visions, private revelations or secret knowledge.
There is more than one good translation of the Bible that can help Catholics know and meditate on God’s holy word. Here are some widely available translations that have been approved by Catholic authorities (for a complete list, see https://www.usccb.org/offices/new-american-bible/approved-translations-bible):
— New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE). The lectionary we use at Mass is based on this translation.
— New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, National Council of Churches
— Good News Translation (Today’s English Version), Second Edition), American Bible Society
— English Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
“The Passion Translation” has not received such approval. For this reason alone, it is not good that Catholics in the Encounter School of Ministry are recommending it to other Catholics. The other reasons I have given above just make it worse.